Doctor Resume Example & Writing Guide

While doctors can set a broken bone, diagnose a rare skin disease or even operate on a brain, they tend to be quietly competent professionals and not big self-promoters. Yet intelligent self-promotion — notably, a superior doctor resume — is precisely what they need to find the job that’s right for them. Medical school teaches how to diagnose exotic illnesses, but it doesn’t teach how to write a resume. 

That’s where Resume.io can help with a prescription for success. We don’t peer into people’s ears or palpate their abdomens, but we are experts at providing job search tools and advice for all kinds of professionals. Our online resources include more than 350 occupation-specific writing guides, matched with resume examples. 

This writing guide, along with a doctor resume example, will provide everything you need to build a winning resume to help you land the right medical position for you. Our objectives here are to help you:

• Craft a doctor resume that stands out from the competition, taking today's job market into account
• Showcase your strengths in a way that optimizes each section of your resume: header, summary, employment history, education and skills
• Avoid the pitfalls of automated systems that can filter out your resume
• Make document layout and design decisions that are best suited to your doctor resume.

What does a doctor do?

Medicine is one of the world’s most coveted, highest-paying and respectable professions, and there are good reasons for that. Doctors are life savers, and we trust them to safeguard our most precious asset, our health. There is perhaps no field that requires so many years of study and on-the-job training.  And so it’s eminently fair that doctors are well remunerated. 

Understanding the medical job market

The job outlook for doctors of all kinds is good, but some specialists have an advantage. Doctors will always be in demand, though some specialties will be needed more than others. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts that the number of U.S. doctors’ jobs will grow by 3%  between 2020 and 2030, slower than the overall job market average. 

There were 727,000 U.S. doctor’s jobs in 2020, and there are expected to be 24,800 more by 2030. Demand for health care is expected to grow because the population is both growing and aging. Almost all new medical school graduates are offered residencies upon graduating — an advantage that many fields don’t share. 

Job prospects are expected to be especially good for specialists more in demand among an aging population, including cardiology, radiology and other specialties that treat chronic disease. And physicians willing to work in low-income and rural areas will have more options open to them, as most doctors gravitate toward higher-income urban areas. New technologies may also affect medical employment, as improved information technology and artificial intelligence reduce doctors’ workloads. Yet doctors will always be needed to manage patient care, and in fact new technologies should allow doctors to cover more ground and treat more patients more effectively. 

Doctors also can expect top remuneration, among the highest of all professions. Median pay for U.S. doctors in 2020 was at least $208,000 per year, roughly $100 an hour. 

How to write a doctor resume

The anatomy of a doctor resume is virtually the same as for all occupations, comprising these essential parts:

• Header
• Summary
• Employment history section
• Education section
• Skills section

Economy of words is critically important to ensure your resume fits on a single page — concise and precise language that avoids repetition. For the same reason, you must be scrupulously selective about what information to include or omit.

We’ll take a closer look at each resume component later on.

Bear in mind that a resume is not a cast on a broken arm — it’s supposed to be flexible. Not all employers are created equal, and your resume should not be carved into stone. Target each employer that interests you, and tailor your resume to appeal to the talents and qualifications that each employer is seeking.  

This last point can’t be emphasized enough, as it is often the key difference between a resume that was ignored and one that led to an interview. Remember that you’re not trying to convince anyone that you deserve a job — you are demonstrating that you have the specific skills your target employer is looking for. 

And don’t forget the basics: A good resume for a doctor should demonstrate your ability to diagnose and treat illness, manage patient care and establish good relationships with patients. You must demonstrate that you possess a superior knowledge of anatomy, pathology and wellness, and that you are an expert in both hard science and soft skills.

The ATS: First, do no harm

Applicant Tracking Systems ( ATS) are automated systems that process resumes in search of keywords input by hiring managers to designate requirements they are seeking. In medical professions, these could be abbreviations for necessary certifications, or they may include critical skills and qualities. If these don’t appear anywhere in your resume, it could be rejected before a human being even looks at it.

To figure out what these crucial keywords are, study job listings to see what the job requirements are. Use these same keywords in your resume, using the same wording, and your resume is likely to be greenlighted by the ATS rather than deep-sixed.

Choosing the best resume format for a doctor

The most commonly used chronological format will be suitable for the majority of doctor resumes, and is preferred by recruiters. That means your professional experience is listed under employer headings, in order from most recent to earliest positions.

But if your career is in an early stage, or your experience is more varied — perhaps you have worked independently in consulting positions or held multiple positions simultaneously — there are other options for structuring your resume. The functional format allows you to put more emphasis on skills, types of specialized experience or even projects, rather than employee positions. A hybrid resume format is even more adaptable, combining chronological and functional elements.

Resume header: Distinguish yourself

A distinctively eye-pleasing header sets your resume apart from the rest at first glance. Prominently displaying your name, occupation and contact information also makes it easier for recruiters to follow up when they’re ready to get serious.

You will also not regret the small amount of extra effort it takes to create a visually matched pair of application documents that look inviting to read. Applying the same design elements to your cover letter and resume will first be noticeable in the headers.

Doctor resume summary example: Tasteful self-promotion

The resume summary, also known as the profile or personal statement, is your best chance to make the case in your own words for being an outstanding hire. It’s what employers will see first on your resume — a succinct synopsis of yourself, your job aptitude and your professional interests. It's where you can describe your best qualities and put forth your best arguments for filling this medical position. 

If you don’t get this right, hiring managers may swiftly lose interest and stop reading. Eye-tracking surveys have shown that hiring managers  spend an average of six to eight seconds looking at a resume when deciding whether to keep reading, and they start at the top. 

Lead with your strengths, control the narrative, and give your audience no reason to stop. This is not the place to be too modest. If you don’t tout your own credentials for the job, nobody else will. Be confident and be assertive without sounding arrogant. 

The profile is also where you can choose to state specifically what kind of job you’re seeking. If you’re looking to move from a hospital to a private practice or vice versa, or looking for a shift in your specialization or responsibilities, this is the place to say so.

Below is a doctor resume example summary you can customize.

Employment history sample: Your hands-on experience

Dynamic language — primarily strong action verbs — are the hallmark of an impressive work experience overview.Use strong action verbs to highlight the job history that best showcases your training and experience. 

What you choose to list in this resume section, as bullet points organized under employer headings, will naturally depend on your career stage. Whether you are a long-established medical practitioner or just recently completed residency or fellowship training, the need to be selective still applies. The deciding factor is always the same: specify your work experience that is most directly relevant to the position you are seeking.

In any case, the descriptive highlights listed here should be framed as accomplishments rather than generic job duties. Avoid saying what you were responsible for and report what you actually did. Emphasize positive outcomes in measurable terms wherever possible, citing facts and figures to highlight project goals achieved, improvements, challenges you overcame, and so on.

Below is a doctor’s employment history resume sample you can modify.

Doctor resume education example: Beyond naming your medical school

Your education is critical to your job search, and you need to present it in the manner that hiring managers expect in this resume section You can become a tech billionaire without finishing college, but you can’t become a doctor without finishing medical school. Education is a crucial component of any doctor’s background, as is on-the-job training in a residency. 

To become a doctor, you need an undergraduate university degree (four years), followed by a medical degree (four more years) — that’s eight years already, and you’re hardly done yet. Most doctors then follow a residency path that can last anywhere from three to seven years. 

By contrast, a master’s degree usually takes two years of postgraduate study, a law degree usually takes three, and a Ph.D. generally requires four. None of these requires a post-doctoral practicum, as medicine does. Doctors are doctors for a reason. Also, physicians are required to be licensed, with requirements varying by jurisdiction. Doctors must pass a standardized licensure exam, and in addition many seek certification by a medical board. In most cases, licensing and certification should be mentioned on your resume, and Resume.io's builder tool can help you determine where.

Typically, the education section is also where awards, honors or special recognitions are listed. If it’s a relatively long list, a separate subsection with the heading "Honors" may be created.

Below is the education section from a doctor resume you can modify.

CV skills example: How do you stand out?

Among several job candidates with the same qualifications, what makes you better? An intriguing resume summary and impressive employment and education sections give you a great start. But what if another candidate has is equally worthy on those counts?

The summary and skills sections are sort of like resume bookends that allow you to boast a bit about what you’re good at. Do you have exceptional medical expertise in a specialized field? Do you speak a foreign language that would enable you to communicate with patients who don’t speak English? Are you an outstanding communicator who can help patients understand their medical issues, as well as interact effectively with colleagues? Any of these could give you an edge — again, based on relevance to the job requirements.

Check out a doctor CV sample for the skills section below.

Resume layout and design: Looks matter

A clean, crisp and streamlined layout and design are vital to any doctor’s resume. You wouldn’t usher patients into a cluttered, dirty exam room, and your resume should reflect the same attention to detail as your practice. Well organized, balanced and inviting to read. Clean, coherent, clear, concise. Attractive but simple. Elegant but not over-decorated.Clean, clear, bug-free design is essential to any doctor’s resume. You wouldn’t usher patients into a cluttered, dirty exam room, and your resume should reflect the same attention to detail as your practice. Clean, coherent, clear, concise. Attractive but simple. Elegant but not over-decorated. 

Every formatting choice should have the same objective — enhanced legibility. From fonts, margin widths and line spacing to overall white space and color splashes, reader-friendliness matters most. 

Extra precautions are advisable if you use standard text editing software to create your resume. Formatting bugs can make parts of your document unreadable by the ATS if it’s submitted online. Saving the final version as a PDF is a recommended safeguard

the most reliable, hassle-free way to sidestep these risks is to use one of Resume.io’s field-tested resume templates. Choose from dozens of designs in our collection and customize with your own replacement using our easy-to-use builder.

Key takeaways for a doctor resume

1. The job market for doctors of all kinds is expected to remain strong, despite a slower growth rate than the occupational average. Some specializations will be far more in demand than others.
2. It may be harder to become a surgeon than a psychiatrist — yet the highest job growth in medicine is expected to be among psychiatrists, and the least among surgeons.
3. Competition for the best jobs may be intense, and they aren’t handed out by chance.
4. Intelligent preparation and crafting a great resume can mean the difference between accepting the job you’re offered and getting the job you want.
5. Doctor’s resumes must take into account the automated Applicant Tracking Systems that can reject an application before an employer even looks at it.
6. Take into account what each prospective employer is seeking, and tailor your resume accordingly.

You’ll take no chances if you trust in the proven builder tool and field-tested templates at resume.io. Get started!

Other helpful healthcare resume examples:

• Healthcare
• Endodontist
• CNA
• Lactation Consultant
• Epidemiologist
• Marriage and Family Therapist
• Health Care Administration
• Dental Receptionist
• Nursing Student
• Nursing Home
• Occupational Therapist
• Behavioral Therapist
• Psychologist
• Art Therapist
• Audiologist
• Respiratory Therapist
• Child Psychologist
• Medical Support Assistant
• Medical Social Worker
• Pharmacy Technician
• Physician Assistant
• Clinic Coordinator
• Medical Receptionist
• Optometrist
• Physical Therapist
• Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
• Pharmacist
• Dentist
• Sonographer
• Nurse
• Psychotherapist
• Medical Science Liaison
• Dental Assistant
• Paramedic